Shattered Illusions: Love, Lies, and Redemption novel Chapter 4

But back in the day, she got pricked by her mom Jolin Gardenia with a needle and it left her with some serious mental scars. She tried to get her ears pierced three times and chickened out every time, yet she was green with envy seeing others rock some snazzy studs.

Remington was off studying in Astoria and somehow caught wind of this. He came back for Christmas and, out of the blue, whipped out an ear-piercing gun, claiming it was just a toy, and duped her into giving it a whirl.-

The guy brushed her hair aside, the gun aimed at her lobes, and before she knew it -bam, bam - she had pierced ears.

Fuming, she chased after him swinging her fists, "I hate you, Remi!"

He turned around, she stumbled into his arms, and under the warm sun, he bent down and tenderly wiped away the tears at the corner of her eyes.

"Little Liz, such a drama queen."

Later on, Remington went all out and had the world-renowned designer Jonathan whip up a custom pair of earrings just for her.

A masterpiece, starting at six figures, no less. She wasn't one for bling, but she wore those earrings for ten years straight, never taking them off.

A decade. She'd think something that felt like a part of her, in her flesh and blood, would be excruciating to let go. Turned out, not so much.

On the big screen at the street corner, some gossip news was playing, and a reporter cornered Evelina at the airport, grilling her about her love life.

"Yeah, there's a guy I'm mad about. We split over a misunderstanding four years ago, but I believe true lovers will eventually reunite."

She turned to the guy next to her with a smile, and the gutsy reporter shoved the mic his way.

"Mr. Dashiell, are you the man Ms. Hawthorne is head over heels for?"

The guy signaled his bodyguard to step up, and with a protective hand, he whisked Evelina away.

Lizetta looked away, a sarcastic smile on her lips. Happily ever after, how lovely.

Turned out, as usual, the wife was the last to know when the hubby strayed.

Just then, the driver piped up, "Miss, there's a car tailing us, someone after you?"

Lizetta glanced back, a black Bentley on their tail with a license plate too bold to ignore. In a blink, the Bentley sped up, tires screeching in a drift, blocking their way.

The driver slammed the brakes; Lizetta lurched forward, then snapped back by the seatbelt, her head spinning.

Then came the tapping on the window. Deliberate and rhythmic, it struck a chord in Lizetta's heart.